Sunday, December 27, 2009

Christmas in Aruba







Merry Christmas from the Aruban Missionaries. Elder Pietz wanted both pictures of us displayed to show how tall and skinny the cactus are.
I got up early to go to the cliffs along the ocean to watch the sunrise Christmas morning with the elders and sisters. Then we stopped off at the beach so one sister could make sand angels.
For Christmas dinner we made dinner for 21 including all 14 missionaries, so Elder Pietz and another man had to make two round trips about an hour and 15 minutes to pick them up and deliver them back to the far side of the island. We all had a great time. The food was great. We had lots of fun with the missionaries with white elephant gifts. Our phone was used for 8 hours straight for some of them to call home to family. They only talk to family at Christmas and Mother's Day so it was a very special time for them.
Close to us is a neighborhood that for 20 years has planned a decoration of lights. Each year the display changes. Now I think they have sponsors that give some financial support. Not many people put up decorations and if they do, it is usually not elaborate. This display uses marine plywood that can be taken down and reused. There were stairs going up there for people to actually walk to the top. Many people brought their lawn chairs and just sat and enjoyed the lights. The pictures just show a portion of the lights.

Saturday, December 26, 2009

Busy Month






Time still went by quickly here even though we were not busy with holiday gift buying and decorating. We had a nice Thanksgiving dinner here in our courtyard and even cooked a turkey. We went to another cave on the island with our elders and sisters. Had great fun with all the missionaries(24) from the three islands-Aruba, Bonaire, and Curacao--at our Christmas zone conference. We celebrated at a Japanese restaurant for a lovely luncheon with fun chefs cooking the food for us. We had a nice Christmas program and dinner at church. The elders and sisters are teaching many wonderful people and we are able to go with on many lessons.